1911 frame differences?

[Guest supergus]

Sorry for the newb question, but I'm very serious about knowing the ins and outs of various handguns, specifically the different frame choices. Let me see if I can get this right.

1-A fullsize 5" barreled 1911 is a Gov.

2-A fullsize 6" is a long slide

3-A 1911 with a full size grip frame but a 4" (+/-) barrel would be Commander

4-A commander with a smaller grip frame would be an Officer's.

Is that about the jist of it?

[molonlabetn]

Sorry for the newb question, but I'm very serious about knowing the ins and outs of various handguns, specifically the different frame choices. Let me see if I can get this right.

1-A fullsize 5" barreled 1911 is a Gov.

2-A fullsize 6" is a long slide

3-A 1911 with a full size grip frame but a 4" (+/-) barrel would be Commander

4-A commander with a smaller grip frame would be an Officer's.

Is that about the jist of it?

Officers means a 3.5" barrel with shortened grip-frame.

Commander means a 4.25" barrel with fullsize grip-frame.

Government means a 5.0" barrel with fullsize grip-frame.

Those were catagorizations normally attributed to Colt...

Longslide, Champion, Subcompact, etc... all depict other iterations of the 1911-type pistol, with barrels exceeding 6", down to 3".

[Guest EasilyObsessed]

On #4...the officer models usually come with a 3.5" barrel as well.

They do make models with a officer sized grip but with the longer commander barrel...but they are pretty rare.

[gunsablazin]

You do have the basics covered there, the officers models have a shorter than 4" barrel, there are also lightweight frames, officers frames with commander length barrel, as in the Colt Defender. The Good Lord is probably the only one who knows for sure about all the variations of 1911's that have been tried over the years.

[Guest supergus]

Thanks guys. I appreciate it. Just sold my house in NC so I'm goin' gun huntin' tomorrow or Fri.

[Guest Boomhower]

so I'm goin' gun huntin' tomorrow or Fri.

Go both days!

[Guest supergus]

I caught the wife lurking on the Taurus and S&W websites:love: And she finally said "maybe I should go in to the gun shop with you...":woohoo: So we may be shopping for two!

[happyhuntr]

don't forget about the 3" barrel. defender!!

happyhuntr